We Unhappy Few
by Stephanie Nova Rose Allen
Summary: After a mysterious letter asked Stephanie to come to Wellington Wells, she was placed into another adventure through danger. She teamed up with the person who wrote the letter to her, and went into these adventures with him to find out what is making everyone still takes Joy, even though Jack already said what happens if you take too many of them?
1. Welcome To Wellington Wells!

Well, this seems to be interesting.

I seemed to have been invited to Wellington Wells for a little stay, even though I was staying at a grand old hotel.

Nothin' much, it's just that I have not been in other places than this.

But things started to get weird at that town, really eerie and disturbing things…

So, let me just start at the beginning of how this whole story just started randomly.

I remember I was staying in a grand old hotel, just relaxing and minding my own business in my own chair.

Nothin' much was going on around the whole town, and the restaurants there are expensive since I was saving up a bit and losin' some weight, I just stayed there for a while, thinking of my own thoughts.

Thinkin' about what I could do since I don't have a home to stay in since I already moved out of the other foster home I have.

Besides, I am old enough and could afford a home myself, but… I just don't trust myself alone in a house and in an unknown neighborhood filled with robbers.

…I don't want to start that again…

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of my motel room, startling me almost to death, as I jumped, almost springing out of my chair I was sitting in.

I was startled that someone randomly knocked on my door, even though the whole room was peacefully stinkin' quiet!

After calming down from my startlement, breathing in and out slowly, the knocking continued to knock against my door, pausing for a few minutes, then resumed, repeating the process for a while.

"J-Just a minute!" I called out to the person, slowly getting up from the chair, before quickly putting on my cameo sweater, just to be a little warm since it is cold out there. "Be patient, please!"

The knocking paused after I had called out to that person, and got over to the door, opening it to see a mailman in front of him, holding a letter in his hand.

"Hello, ma'am!" he greeted, tipping his hat down slightly as I smiled.

"Hello, sir." I greeted back, sighing gently from my anxiety, luckily I have not brought out any of my claws or else things might be over the top, literally. "What could I do for you?"

"Nothin' much," he responded, as I listened, pushing a strand of wire from in front of my face over my ear. "It's just you are beautiful, and people have been complete assholes around you. They just don't understand that you are human then who you are."

"Nah, don't worry about it!" I sighed, gently waving my hand in front of me slightly. "I dealt with bigger assholes than those people! And I am quite flattered."

He chuckled along with me, amused at my personality.

"Anyways, I have a letter from someone that is written for you with your door number on it," he explained, before asking me, asking about my name. "Stephanie, right?"

"Yep!" I happily chirped, while smirking. "Stephanie Allen is me!"

He softly chuckled and handed me the letter, which was perfectly handwritten with neat handwriting, which does not match the writing that my boyfriend has.

If I remember correctly, his handwriting is normal, but this person seems to be shaky, despite the neatness.

It has the room number on the front, but there was no address of where I used to live nor the return address.

It piqued my interest because it was mysterious and unusual, so I was confused but curious at the same time.

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Allen?" the mailman asked, looking confused.

I glanced up at him and shook my head no, answering to his question and lying to him at the same time, "No, nothin's wrong."

"Then, why are you confused?" he asked, mentioning to my confusion.

"Well, I think my friend forgot my name on the letter and maybe was excited to hear from me?" I white lied to him, covering up the curiosity that I have.

He was silent for a moment, as I mentally prayed to myself that he would take the white lie for good.

The mailman shrugged his shoulders after a moment, responding with, "Okay, then, nothin' wrong with that." then tipped his hat towards me.

"Have a nice day, Ms. Allen." He smiled.

"Aw, 'Ms. Allen' was my mother, call me Stephanie." I softly chuckled, as he chuckled.

"Alright then," he chuckled, before tipping his hat once more at me, as a farewell. "I'll see you soon, Stephanie."

I smiled at him for a moment, before he turned around from my door and walked down the hallway to the left as he pulled out another letter, looking at it for a moment, before turning the corner.

I watched him as he turned the corner, my smile disappearing as I went back into my room and closed the door in front of my face.

After closing the door in front of my face, I glanced down at the letter in my hands, thinking to myself for a moment.

I turned back to the living room that I am inside, staring at the letter in my hands for a moment, thinking about who could have written it to me?

Is someone in trouble?

Did someone want to be rescued?

So, I decided to open the letter.

Sitting down on a different chair, which was a wooden one, in front of a desk, as I still had the letter in my hands, still staring at it with a concerned look.

After a moment, I put up my first finger of my metal hand and transformed into a small letter opener for me to open the letter.

Being careful as I could, I inserted the tip of the knife into the side of the letter, trying not to rip the paper inside accidentally.

After I had finished cutting the letter, I moved my finger out from the tears, transforming my finger back to normal, before taking out what was inside.

As soon as I took out a letter, my vision powers kicked in, allowing me to see what was going on before meeting me.

The vision showed a blank piece of paper, just lying on a desk, before someone came running into a room, a single large hand landing on the paper, as a shadow of a man glanced side to side frantically.

Then, he glanced down at the paper underneath his hand and glanced around for a pen.

He grabbed a pencil from the side of the desk in a pencil cup and glanced back down at the paper, before writing, while he was shaking from either trauma or from being cold outside.

"Dear reader, my name is not important to remember, but there is something wrong going on in Wellington Wells!" the man wrote on the paper in front of him.

He stopped writing for a moment and glanced around for a moment, checking for anyone coming.

After checking, he went back to writing, continuing, "I need you to come into the town and find me! I'm hiding outside of Wellington Wells! But, if you do find me another way, please do me a favor, don't take any of the Joy! It's poisonous!"

Before he continued writing the letter in front of him, he glanced up from his work when he heard something in the distance, before quickly finishing, "Either way, please, help me!"

After he had written that, he folded the paper up into a square, grabbed an envelope and placed the letter inside, before sealing it and placed it inside a mailbox.

When he placed the letter in the mailbox, he turned to the side, noticing someone was coming and ran, leaving the mail alone for a moment.

Then someone else came than the man that quickly wrote the letter and opened the box, noticing the envelope inside.

The figure reached inside and took it out, noticing the man forgot to write the address on the front.

Without a word, the figure took out a pen instead of a pencil and wrote my room number on it.

After writing my room number on it, the figure placed the letter back into the mailbox, closing the mailbox and left, walking in a different direction than the previous one.

Then, the mailman came and took the mail, before sending it to where I was, handing it to the same mailman that came to my doorstep and gave it to me.

After the vision disappeared, I blinked my eyes for a moment, looking slightly bewildered.

Whoever wrote the letter must have been in deep water for a long time!

I thought to myself for a moment, thinking about the other misadventures I have been in, sometimes getting into trouble, or just getting into another adventure.

Usually, I get dragged into one after meeting someone randomly or just right out of the blue.

'Oh, well,' I shrugged to myself after thinking to myself for a moment as I placed the halfway opened letter down on the desk. 'Looks like I am in another adventure.'

After I had placed the letter down, I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and stretched out a bit before going.

While I was stretching, however, I felt a few of my bones popping out of place, before going back when I stopped.

Then, I collected some items for the adventure and counted my money in case if I needed to buy some food.

I finished collecting the items and some things, before deciding to take the adventure.

Straightening myself and repositioning my sweater, I sighed to myself, knowing this will kill me in the future of the adventure, but what the hell?

I was already bored with being in my room the whole time, so, why the hell not of having another adventure?

So, I am ready for the new adventure!

To begin the adventure, I walked out of my room and closed the door behind my back and locked it with the key I was given with when I came here for the stay.

After locking the door, I walked down the hallway and turned the right corner, heading down to the elevator to go to the service table.

I entered the elevator and pressed the down button, heading to the first floor.

"Wait!" a male's voice cried out to me, as I glanced over to the front. "Wait, hold the door!"

Quickly, I held my hand up to the door and pushed it open, just in time for him to enter, then I moved my hands away from the doors.

The male was a businessman, and he repositioned his tie, before noticing me.

"O-Oh, I suppose you are here to be on ground level?" he asked, stammering a bit.

"Yeah, I am," I responded to him, not even bothered by him staring at me funny.

I always get people staring at me funny, but, when staring started to get a little uneasy, then I'll freak out or start running the other direction.

"Uh, wh-where are you heading to?" he stammered, glancing away from my gaze for a moment, then glanced back at me.

"Well, I am headin' to a town called Wellington Wells because a friend of mine wanted to see me again." I calmly explained to him, lying to him like how I lied to the mailman, except not the same, but almost related.

When we reached the ground, I stepped off and glanced over at him, who was staying in the elevator.

"Are ya comin' with me?" I asked, mentioning the direction of the front desk.

"N-No, I was actually going to the 4th level," he responded, as he pointed up. "I was waiting for you to step off."

"Ah," I understood him. "Okay, I'll see you later then!"

"Y-Yes, later." he sighed, as he pushed the button to the fourth floor.

After pushing the button to go to the floor, I waved goodbye to him with my good right metal hand, as a polite way to say farewell to someone.

He awkwardly waved goodbye back to me with an uneasy look on his face before the elevator's doors closed in front of him.

After the elevator doors closed, I sighed as I glanced away from it, feeling a little pouting.

It seems like I always get that around whenever people interact with me.

Be judgy against me and has any lack of respect.

I wanted to be annoyed at them for the lack, but I do not blame them, it's not their fault that they do not understand much, but… it's their choice, not mine.

Although I do not seem to be that angry at them that much.

It looks like I went through what has happened so far…

But… I do not know if I am clearly ready to face the… path I was forced to take.

I paused for a moment, thinking to myself for a moment, before shaking my head for a moment, forcing the random thoughts away from my mind.

…Come on, Steph!

Stop talkin' like that!

You know better than that!

Let's… just get this over with and find that guy in Wellington Wells.

Nothin' bad could happen in that town,… right?

After gathering myself for a moment and gently sighing through my nose, I walked to the front of the desk, forcing a smile on my face to the manager to not show that I was a little sad.

"Ah, welcome back!" he smiled at me, as I smiled back to him. "What could I do for you?"

"Nothin', I was coming here to sign out." I sighed, pushing a strand of hair out of my face.

"Thank god…" Someone sighed from in the distance, as I overheard it because of her left metal ear, but I chose not to make a ruckus, as I was calm. "And I thought that it wouldn't leave already."

I ignored the voice behind me and patiently waited for the manager to flip the pages to the page that I had written my name on before.

After the manager flipped to the page, he took out a pen and gave it to me.

"Here you go," he smiled, as I smiled back. "Now, just write your name here."

He pointed to a third column that reads, "Sign Out" and I rewrote my name on that column, on the same line where my other name was when I first came here.

After signing my name, I also wrote the date to the side.

"Thank you!" He smiled, as I smirked a bit. "I hope you had a nice stay here!"

I nodded my head once and turned around, walking towards the front doors of the hotel, ready to start the adventure.

Once I stepped outside of the building, I went straight to the train station, to get a ticket to go to Wellington Wells.

When I reached the ticket booth, I bought a ticket to the town, although I was feeling a bit uneasy about it.

But, I had confidence that there might be something there.

So, I bought the ticket and waited for the train to come back.

But while waiting for the train, I absentmindedly made a little paper crane for someone else to find it and read what could be written inside.

After I made the paper crane, I placed it in the bushes right next to the bench that I am sitting on, just in the spot where the sitter would see where it is.

I had to clean up some garbage that was hidden in the bushes after placing the paper crane inside and put it in the trash can, that was on the other side of the bench.

Then, the train appeared after a few more hours has passed and quickly boarded it, before noticing that someone sat down on the bench that I was sitting on.

Mentally, I hoped that person would notice the paper crane that is hidden in the bushes.

After hoping for a moment, I sat down on an empty seat and waited for the train to reach Wellington Wells, as I was thinking to myself again.

Maybe I was trying too hard to be happy?

Or maybe I was just too over the top?

I absentmindedly shook my head to myself, pushing the insecurity out of my mind.

I gotta stop myself from thinking that.

I watched as the scenery passed the windows, as I stared out of my window, not even bothering to look at who is either going to sit by me or just coming in without warning.

I watched trees, people, buildings, and other objects passed by, not even moving from my spot on the seat or falling asleep.

Usually, I do fall asleep on long trips to other places, but this time I have not fallen asleep.

I instead sadly watched as the scenery passed, feeling a bit down, even though I wanted to cheer myself up, I seemed to be sad still.

After a few hours or more has passed, I finally reached Wellington Wells, and I stood up from my seat, although a little sore from sitting too long.

But, I ignored the feeling and went off the train, heading towards the front of the town.

When I reached the front of the town, a nervous feeling sat in my stomach, as I stared up at the gate, wondering to myself of what could be inside.

Before I could enter, someone called over to me, "Oi!"

I immediately froze, as I glanced over to the voice, seeing that voice came from a police officer, as I felt more nervous about what he could be thinking about.

The police officer that called over to me walked up in front of me, as I felt weirded out by how he is wearing that white mask over his face.

"Who are you?" he asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"Uh, I'm, uh, I'm just here to visit an old friend of mine, sir." I stammered, pushing my glasses into place with my right hand. "I'm not doing anything wrong; I-I just want to come in the city."

He paused for a moment as I mentally chuckled to myself nervously, looking disturbed by both the white mask he is wearing and the creepily smiling expression on his face.

"Could I see your passport, then?" he asked, holding his hand out for the passport I used to go through the gates.

I blinked once, and noticed what he asked, feeling a bit embarrassed, while stammering, as I rummaged through the pockets of my blue jeans, "Huh? O-Oh! S-Sorry!"

After a moment of rummaging through the pockets, I pulled out the passport and gave it to him, as he took it and looked at the picture for a moment.

I forced a smile with my lips when he glanced up at me, trying to copy the picture they took of me back when I had to get one to aboard planes.

After a minute of looking back at the picture and back up at me, the police officer gave the passport back to me, as I took it from him.

"Uh, thank you." I thanked, as he reached up to his hat and tipped it slightly.

"You're welcome, miss." He granted, still smiling as I felt more creeped out. "Have a nice stay at Wellington Wells!"

After that, he turned around and entered the small room that he was inside that has a window in the front to see who approached the gate.

At first, I thought he was going to relax in that small room and force me to wait for another hour, to make me annoyed.

But, he instead pressed a button on the control panel and the gate opened, allowing me to enter the city.

I hesitated for a moment, but gathered my courage and slowly entered the town, and as soon as I stepped onto concrete, the gate behind me closed, sealing me inside.

After the gates closed behind my back, I felt really nervous about this idea, immediately regretting it mentally in my head.

But, I calmed myself down from my nervousness and assured myself that nothing wrong is gunna happen.

After I had assured myself that nothing dangerous is going to happen as soon as I just stepped away from the gate, my nervousness came back to me, when I noticed that everyone in the whole town, was weirdly smiling and wearing those white masks like the one I saw with the police officer.

My stomach twists as I walked through the town, nervously glancing around at the people, watching as they sometimes pop in a pink pill into their mouth, brighten up a bit, and continue with what they were doing.

I did not want to know what that pill is that they are swallowing.

Just as I reached the middle of the town, a small group of excited people stopped me in my tracks, as one of them noticed something off about me, as I looked completely nervous, freaked out, and forcing a smile on my face.

"You're off your Joy." she softly spoke, before reaching into her pocket and pulled out the same pill that they use. "Take mine."

I didn't take the pill in her hand and instead stepped back.

"Oh, my god!" she covered her mouth with her other hand as she dropped the pill, as some people started to panic. "You're a Downer!"

Immediately, I went into panic mode, as some women fainted from me being a 'Downer' and the men started to take out their weapons.

"Call the police!" she shouted, as I immediately turned around and went down where I came from earlier.

Just before I could reach the gate, the police came and blocked my way, as they were holding batons in their hands.

I made a hard stop and turned the other way, heading away from the gate and down the side, running as fast as I can.

"Get back over here, you Downer bitch!" one of them called to me, who I decided not to turn around to attack, but continue running down the side of the stone brick wall.

Just as I was running, I ran into someone who ran out from an alley, tumbled down the pavement and stopped, as I was on top of the person.

There was a slight ting of pain, but it was not too much to make me wanna cry out or whine about it.

"Ow, bloody 'ell." A male's voice grunted as the body I was laying on started to get up slowly.

Confused, I placed my hands down on the sides of the body, as we both went face to face with each other, as he looked startled, and I was puzzled.

"There she is!" a voice yelled from behind me, as I glanced over my shoulder, seeing one of the police officers had caught up with me from the other side.

A whistle loudly tweeted from the left side of where we were in the distance, making me gasp softly.

So, I glanced over from looking over my shoulder, gazing down the alley next to us.

Down that alley, there were more of the police officers.

"Oh, shit." the man I was on top of cursed, as they noticed him.

"There he is!" one of them pointed.

"Get him!" another yelled.

I glanced down at him and noticed he was not wearing those creepy masks that creep me out, feeling a bit curious about him.

I absentmindedly noticed the mask was off too, inches away from us in the distance.

But there was no time to ask 100 questions right now!

So, I quickly repositioned my hands from being on his chest and moved my legs to my feet, while wrapping my arms around his body.

"What are you-?" he asked, before I picked him up from the ground, as quickly as I can and ran as fast as I can.

A startled yelp came from him as he moved his right hand from my back, as I guessed he might have grabbed his glasses from falling off, as he also wrapped his legs around my bottom half, tightly gripping onto me, as I ran through the side of the town.

The police were following us from behind, acting like dogs nipping at our heels as I ran, faster, and faster, getting away from them and carrying who I went into was tightly holding onto me.

I ran over to the other side of town, before moving towards the forest in the distance.

I noticed a brick wall was blocking my way towards the forest, that only reaches up to both of me and the person I went into's chest.

At first, I felt unsure I might not jump over it since I am carrying someone, but I decided to take the chance.

So, I ran over the brick wall, as the police officers were slowing down a bit from losing too much strength.

When I was at the right time to jump, I leap, as the person tightened his grip around me a bit, so that he wouldn't fall off from me.

I landed safely on the other side of the wall and quickly ran into the woods, as the police officers were not following us anymore.


	2. A Walk Through The Woods

After a while of running through the woods, I started slowing down from speeding, until I went into a walking pace, still carrying that guy in my arms.

I think I lost those police officers after I ran inside, carrying him along the way without having any troubles.

When I was up to where I could place the person down, I placed him down on top of a log that was on its side, as he released his grip on me.

I carefully placed him down on top of the log, as he glanced up at me, as I looked at him.

He is a tall, slim man, with parted jet-black hair, but a little ruffled from maybe running too fast.

The man also has dark brown eye color and fair skin color, while he is wearing a black suit, with white hems on his V-neck collar, and has 6 buttons on the front of him, 3 on each side.

He has a pocket on left-hand side of his chest, and has a white undershirt, as the collar was poking out a bit from his neck and a black tie.

He also has small silver cufflinks on the ends of his hemming on his sleeves.

The man also is wearing a pair of black pants that reach down to the bottom of his ankles with black polished shoes, some shine is worn out from the sides of his shoes, maybe from running away from the police officers.

"L-Lovely day for it?" he stammered, sounding confused and startled.

"'Lovely day?'" I asked, placing both of my hands on my hips and repeating what he asked me. "We ran away from those police officers and almost got ourselves beaten to death! And you are lucky I met you."

"T-True." he stammered, pushing his glasses into place with his right hand, as he sat up a bit from his position.

I paused for a moment, before noticing something with his hands.

The tips of his fingers were trembling a bit, as I remembered the handwriting on that letter.

Without saying a word, I took his right hand after he had pushed his glasses into place and felt it, as I thought to myself for a moment.

"What are you doin'?" he asked, sounding confused as I held his hand in mine, feeling them shaking.

I didn't reply to his question, as I was thinking to myself, thinking about the shadow of the person that wrote the letter, before noticing that they are both the same figures!

"Did you write a letter?" I asked after a few minutes or more have passed.

After I asked him that question, a surprised look appeared on his face, as if I asked him about someone who he missed very much.

"Y-Yes." he stammered, as I released his slightly shaking hands. "How did you know?"

"I know because of the writing of the paper and your hand matches." I pointed, as he glanced down at them in thought.

I paused for a moment, thinking to myself for a moment and wondered about why those people were acting quite strange and creepy.

"Hey, uh, nothing' harsh to ask, but what happened to the town?" I asked, shuddering a bit after asking. "They looked like they came from a circus."

He glanced up at me and sighed tiredly, placing his hand on the side of his temple.

"They are acting like that because they are taking Joy," he explained, as I paused.

"'Joy?'" I repeated in confusion, before remembering the pills they took. "You mean those little pink pills they take?"

He nodded his head yes and pushed his glasses into place, before glancing up at me from the ground, with worry written on his face.

"Did you take some?" he worriedly asked.

"No!" I exclaimed, looking disgusted and creeped out. "Why would I take Joy? It looks like they are taking drugs! And I don't take drugs, I only take medication for any illness!"

He stood up to his feet, as I was only two inches taller than him, but he was still taller than anyone else I could remember.

He took my face in his somewhat shaky hands, which they felt soft and smooth, which was interesting for him to have that and reminded me of my sibling again.

Mentally, I felt like I wanna cry, but I kept my feelings instead and patiently waited for him to see something on my face.

"Let me see your eyes." He spoke, pushing my glasses up so that he could clearly see my eyes.

I didn't say anything to him as he checked my eyes, observing them like I was sick or something.

But, I didn't want to yell at him for no good reason, so I instead fell quiet, letting him look at my eyes.

After a good minute of checking, he sighed and released my face.

"Okay," he sighed, sounding relieved. "You are okay."

"What happens when you take Joy, though?" I asked, sounding curious but confused.

"Your pupils will shrink and starting to hallucinate with fantasies and see things that I couldn't see," he explained. "Even trying things that could scare me."

"Like what?" I asked, sounding a bit worried.

"When I first remembered what happened in my past…" he paused as he glanced away, looking a little sad, before continuing talking to me as he glanced back at me. "We had a party to celebrate and had a piñata in that party. I was next to hit, it but after hitting it…"

He trailed off as he was turning a little pale and looked like he wanted to puke.

But he shook the memory out of his head as the color slowly returned to his face and finished what he remembered, "But, it was a dead rat instead."

"Ew!" I exclaimed, looking disgusted as I imagined the reaction of him and everyone one else. "That is fucked up!"

And disgusting to add!

"Yes, it is." He agreed, nodding his head. "And it also fucks up your memory too."

"Then, why do the people take it if that shit does that to them?!" I exclaimed in disbelief, horrified at what they did.

"Because of what happened in the past, when I was young," he responded quietly, not even looking at me in the eyes.

"What… did you do?" I slowly asked.

He glanced up at me with a sad and scared look on his face, but he sighed and pushed his glasses up again.

"I didn't do anything; it's just that in World War Ⅱ, the British lost the war to the Germans and caused a very economic shock to everyone," he answered, as I listened to him. "Then… they decided to take the children away from them and… created a depression."

My heart sank into my stomach when I heard what he told me.

Did… we really do that to them?

He glanced up at me again from looking away for a moment and continued talking, "The scientists created a chemical called Joy that erases bad memories from the war and everyone took it, except some couldn't anymore and became Downers."

I remembered that moment where we were chased out of the town and shuddered a bit.

"So, they were either chased out of town or killed on the spot." he continued, before finishing, "And that is how I became one 2 years ago."

"All of this had happened 2 years ago, before I even got here?" I asked, slightly shocked.

"Yes," he answered, running his hand through his parted hair, which I thought was not going to be messy again, but stayed the same when he stopped.

He looked so stressed out and sad.

I don't blame him.

I would be like him if I remembered what happened in the past.

He glanced back up at me, his hands on his forearms.

"You… don't seem to want to hurt me since you are a Downer." he slowly spoke.

"Oh, no!" I exclaimed, shaking my head no. "If I wanted to hurt someone, I would've done it sooner or later! You didn't hurt me back there didn't you?"

He opened his mouth to answer my question, when he paused, shutting his mouth.

"True." he nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "But you went into me."

"Because I was trying to run away from those police officers," I spoke.

"I was too." he pointed at himself. "Though, why are you calling them 'police officers?' They're called bobbies."

I paused for a moment, completely confused about the name 'Bobby.'

"Why are they called 'Bobby?'" I asked, sounding confused. "Is it one of the police officer's name?"

A confused looked appeared on his face when I asked about one of the police officer's name.

"No," he sighed, trying to correct me, while I was still confused about what he was doing. "They are called bobbies, I don't think one of them has a name 'Bobby.'"

We both paused for a moment, before realizing something from between both of us.

He is British!

No wonder why he was saying 'bobby' whenever I mentioned the police officers.

"You're an American?" he asked, pointing at me.

"Uh, yes, I am." I stammered, looking a bit nervous about his reaction. "I, uh, did not notice I was in Britain."

"You just traveled from America to here from my letter, in one day?!" he exclaimed, as I flinched a bit.

"N-No, I was just staying here in Britain in a hotel far away from Wellington Wells, an-and I got your letter from the mail with my room number on it and-" I continued, mumbling as I rambled until he interrupted me.

"Wait, 'room number?'" he asked, the tone of his voice of disbelief gone and to confusion.

"Y-Yeah," I responded, a little calm, although a little worried about what he could do. "Someone wrote my room number on the envelope after you had placed it in the mail."

He paused for a moment as he placed the side of his slightly curled first finger against the bottom of his lip, thinking to himself as I felt nervous.

"So, someone else wrote your room number on that envelope?" he asked, after a nervous moment of silence.

"Yes," I responded, calming down a bit. "I don't know who wrote the number, but I am glad you are okay, but where were you heading?"

He glanced away for a moment and glanced back at me, with sadness in his eyes, but he looked a little determined to find someone.

"I want to find Percy," he responded, as I felt curious and confused about whom 'Percy' is.

"And who is this 'Percy' person?" I asked, asking him about 'Percy.'

"Percy is my older brother," he responded, which I reacted strongly towards to.

I looked shocked, horrified and hyperventilating a little.

All because I remember my sibling after he responded to my question about 'Percy.'

He lost his older brother from something and wanting to find him again.

I might have dazed out a bit, because I felt his hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently to snap me back into reality, as the visions of my sibling faded away.

"Ma'am?" he asked, as I glanced at his eyes. "Are you alright ma'am? You looked like you remember someone."

Panicking, I wanted to push his arm away and yell at him, "I DON'T REMEMBER ANYONE!" but I stopped myself sighing gently.

"I… remember a little…" I lied, not wanting to tell him about my past.

It is too unbearable to tell him about what happened.

He looked a little confused and worried after I responded to him that I remember some of my past when he mentioned that Percy is his older brother.

"Did one of the bobbies hit you?" He worriedly asked, feeling around my head for any signs of bruises or any scars.

I confusedly blinked, noticing that he was looking all over for any marking that I was hit by a bobby, so I gently took his wrists in my hands and moved them away from my head.

"No, I have bad short-term memory loss." I calmly spoke, as he looked confused. "I don't remember what happened to my past, but I do remember how I woke up like this."

"As a robot?" he asked, sounding unsure.

"No, as a cybernetic human," I spoke. "Or known as a cyborg."

He looked a little confused and startled, but he continued asking me questions.

"I thought cyborgs aren't real." He spoke, sounding really confused. "They are in fantasy stories, right?"

I felt a little irritated, but I managed to keep my irritation down.

"No, but you are staring at one." I calmly spoke.

"You?" he asked, as I nodded my head. "I thought the wires were a part of a wig."

"Nope." I sighed, as I reached up to the wires and gently tugged one, revealing that it is permanently stuck to my head. "It's all a part of me."

He paused for a moment, thinking to himself about what I said, as I released the wire strand that I used to gently yank to show him that is it on me, permanently.

"You mentioned that you have short-term memory, right?" he asked, as I nodded my head once, answering his question. "I thought cyborgs have a storage file to keep memories?"

"I…" I started talking before drifting off, thinking to myself for a moment and about my past.

After being silent for a moment, I continued talking, lying to him about what happened when I "woke up like this."

"I was blacked out after something happened and I woke up like this after that, not knowing of what was in my past." I lied, as he looked disbelieved. "And… I don't remember what happened to my sibling either."

He paused for a moment, looking concerned about me and I glanced down at my feet, feeling really sad about what happened in my past.

Then, I remembered what happened earlier when we slowed down to walk, is that we both forgot to introduce ourselves.

I facepalmed myself from my own stupidity with my left palm, luckily above my glasses and not using my metal hand, or else I have to fix them, again.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing I facepalmed myself after he was thinking to himself, changing the subject.

"We didn't get to know each other's names," I responded, which he noticed too, sighing a bit. "Besides, my name is Stephanie, Stephanie Nova Rose Allen."

I held out my right metal hand for a handshake, as he hesitated for a moment and staring at my arm.

I mentally knew he didn't trust me.

Yet is the keyword, though.

After a moment, he took my hand, as I gently grasp him, shaking once.

"Arthur, Arthur Hastings is my name," he replied, responding to me.

"'Arthur Hastings.'" I repeated to myself thoughtfully, as he looked a little confused. "I like that name!"

A light red blush appeared on his cheeks as he glanced away from me, looking a little shy.

I giggled from his expression and released his hand, noticing he hasn't released mine.

"Uh, Arthur?" I asked as he glanced over at me. "You can let go of my hand now."

He glanced down at his hand after I had grabbed his attention, noticing he was still holding onto it, even though I released mine.

It seems like he doesn't want me to leave him alone.

"O-Oh," he stammered as he released my hand, pulling it close to his body and looked a little ashamed of it, as he glanced away from me. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay!" I assured him as he glanced back at me from looking away with a slightly confused look on his face. "I had a couple of people doing the same thing too, and wasn't that bothersome either. It's nothing wrong to apologize for too."

He paused for a moment and glanced away again, as there was that sad look on his face, which made me feel a little worried and concerned about.

So, I glanced around for a way to maybe brighten up the poor guy.

When I noticed the forest pathway, an idea instantly sparked in my head.

"Would you like to walk in the forest?" I asked him, as he glanced back at me. "It could help you relax a bit."

He was silent as he glanced away from me again, before finally responding, as he was rubbing the back of his neck, "Sure, I could take some time off my mind."

A slight smile crept on my face, but I instead smirked a bit and took his arm, leading him down the pathway, finally walking because my legs were aching.

When we reached the paved walkway through the forest, I released Arthur's arm and walked down the pathway along his side.

He was quiet as we both walked, and I wanted to talk to him, although he didn't look like he wanted to.

"Uh, are you fine with me blabbering?" I asked him, turning to him.

He was distant, and not looking at me in the eyes, as he had his hands on his forearms, thinking to himself as the same sad look was on his face.

I placed my hand against his that was right near me and snapped out of his thoughts, glancing over at me.

"If you are still worried about Percy, I'm sure that he is okay," I assured him. "Maybe he is trying to look for you too."

"Are you sure about that, Stephanie?" Arthur asked me, the unsureness in his voice crept a bit. "What if he doesn't?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but stopped, thinking about my sibling and the unsureness of mine of meeting her and seeing how she would react, as I closed it for a moment.

"…I don't know yet," I finally spoke, as he listened to me. "But, I have high hopes that he is still alive, and waiting or searching for you to be together again."

He was quiet for a moment, glancing away again, then back at me.

"Alright, let's find him." he sighed.

"Great!" I chirped, before hugging him around the chest. "I can't wait to see your older brother!"

He didn't hug me back for a moment, before slowly wrapping his arms, as I could feel he was full of insecurity and doubt.

After a moment, we both released each other, and I wrapped my arm around his.

"Do you mind if we talk for a moment while walking through the woods?" I asked, repeating what I said earlier while he was distant. "By the rate we are going so far, it might take a few hours or more."

He paused for a moment, before nodding his head, quietly answering my question.

"Okay!" I slightly smirked, trying my best to brighten him up from his sadness.

So, while walking through the forest, I told him about my adventures around the world, but I didn't notice this earlier when I mention Germany, he flinched slightly as we both walked.


End file.
